prosciutto-wrapped monkfish

Over the last decade I have made a conscious effort to support farm-to-table and know your farmer or fisherman, but sometimes not knowing what your food looks like before it lands on the table is good thing! Let me explain. Take monkfish, for example, it’s one helluva an ugly fish! Its body is composed mainly of a huge gaping mouth with razor sharp teeth that slant inward and eyes that sit on top of its flat head, all attached to a muscular tail; doesn’t that sound delectable? The saving grace for this prehistoric-looking creature is the meat in the tail. It’s delicious, dense, sweet, and very similar to lobster in both flavor and texture. A couple of weeks ago I bought monkfish from one of our local vendors at the market and decided this would be a delightful break from meat or poultry.

This dish is quite versatile and can be served in a number of ways. My favourite and healthy version is so simple and extremely yummy! Place the monkfish on a bed of white kidney beans flavoured with salsa verde. It’s easy to prepare, easy on the pocketbook, and in less than half an hour you’ll have dinner on the table! Your dinner guests will think you’ve spent hours in the kitchen.

Preheat oven to 425f (220c). Pat dry monkfish. Remove any purpley blue membrane (aka silver skin) with a knife or ask your fish monger to do this for you. Feeling adventurous? Click here to see how to fillet a monkfish tail. On a board or clean surface, lay out slices of prosciutto overlapping slightly and place monkfish on top. Zest lemon over the fish and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Roll prosciutto to cover the fish well (use your hands and gently press meat onto fish). In a frying pan large enough to hold the monkfish, place over medium-high heat and add a splash of olive oil (just enough so the prosciutto doesn’t stick to the pan). Sauté a couple of minutes before turning fish. The end result should resemble a golden brown. Remove from heat and roast in the oven for 15 minutes.

While the fish is in the oven, drain and rinse white kidney beans. In a frying pan heat a splash of olive oil over medium heat and add the beans. The idea here is to warm the beans through and just before the fish is to come out of the oven, add two to three heaping tablespoons of salsa verde over the beans. Stir to combine. Remove fish from oven and slice. Add beans and roasted tomatoes to warmed dinner plates and top with prosciutto wrapped monkfish. Drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil.

The Culinary Chase’s Note: If you’re using a frying pan with a plastic handle, simple cover it with tin foil before placing in oven. Make sure the prosciutto slices cover the monkfish otherwise it’ll start to pull apart when it begins to cook in the oven. Enjoy!

Monkfish is dense, sweet, and very similar to lobster in both flavour and texture.

Author: The Culinary Chase

Serves: 4

Ingredients

monkfish (about 2 to 3 lbs.)

zest of 2 lemons

prosciutto slices (8 to 10 slices)

fresh dill (optional)

sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

large can of white kidney beans (aka cannellini beans)

roasted tomatoes (or sundried tomatoes, roughly chopped)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425f (220c). Pat dry monkfish. Remove any blue membrane (aka silver skin) with a knife or ask your fishmonger to do this for you. Feeling adventurous? Click here to see how to fillet a monkfish tail. On a board or clean surface, lay out slices of prosciutto overlapping slightly and place monkfish on top. Zest lemon over the fish and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Roll prosciutto to cover the fish well (use your hands and gently press meat onto fish). In a frying pan large enough to hold the monkfish, place over medium-high heat and add a splash of olive oil (just enough so the prosciutto doesn’t stick to the pan). Sauté a couple of minutes before turning fish. The end result should resemble a golden brown. Remove from heat and roast in the oven for 15 minutes.

While the fish is in the oven, drain and rinse white kidney beans. In a frying pan heat a splash of olive oil over medium heat and add the beans. The idea here is to warm the beans through and just before the fish is to come out of the oven, add two to three heaping tablespoons of salsa verde over the beans. Stir to combine. Remove fish from oven and slice. Add beans and roasted tomatoes to warmed dinner plates and top with prosciutto wrapped monkfish. Drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil.

The Culinary Chase’s Note: If you’re using a frying pan with a plastic handle, simple cover it with tin foil before placing in oven. Make sure the prosciutto slices cover the monkfish otherwise it’ll start to pull apart when it begins to cook in the oven. Enjoy!